Chapter 4

第四章

A FLIGHT FOR LIFE

命がけの逃走

ON THE morning which followed his interview with the Mormon Prophet, John Ferrier went in to Salt Lake City, and having found his acquaintance, who was bound for the Nevada Mountains, he entrusted him with his message to Jefferson Hope. In it he told the young man of the imminent danger which threatened them, and how necessary it was that he should return. Having done thus he felt easier in his mind, and returned home with a lighter heart.

モルモン教預言者と話をした次の朝 / ジョン・フェリアーはソルトレイクシティに出かけた / そしてネバダ山脈に向かう知り合いを見つけ / ジェファーソン・ホープへの伝言を預けた◆その中で / 彼は青年に彼らを脅かす差し迫った危険について語った / そして彼が戻ってくる事がいかに必要かを◆これをやり終えて彼は気が少し楽になるのを覚えた / そして少し明るい気持ちで家に戻った

As he approached his farm, he was surprised to see a horse hitched to each of the posts of the gate. Still more surprised was he on the entering to find two young men in possession of his sitting-room. One, with a long pale face, was leaning back in the rocking-chair, with his feet cocked up upon the stove. The other, a bull-necked youth with coarse, bloated features, was standing in front of the window with his hands in his pockets whistling a popular hymn. Both of them nodded to Ferrier as he entered, and the one in the rocking-chair commenced the conversation.

農場に戻ると / 彼は門柱の両側に馬がつながれているのを見て驚いた◆部屋に入ってそれ以上に彼が驚いたのは / 二人の若い男が居間を占拠していたことだ◆長く青白い顔の一人は / ロッキングチェアにふんぞり返って / ストーブの上に足を突き上げていた◆がさつで自惚れた顔の首の太いもう一人は / 窓の前に立っていた / ポケットに手を入れて流行りの曲を口笛で吹きながら◆二人はフェリアーが入るとうなずいた / そしてロッキングチェアにいた男が話を始めた

“Maybe you don’t know us,” he said. “This here is the son of Elder Drebber, and I’m Joseph Stangerson, who travelled with you in the desert when the Lord stretched out His hand and gathered you into the true fold.”

「私達のことは知らないでしょうね」 / 彼は言った◆「こちらはドレバー長老の息子で / 私が、ジョセフ・スタンガーソンです / あなたと一緒に砂漠を旅した / 神が手を差し伸べてあなたを真の信仰に引き入れた時」

“As He will all the nations in His own good time,” said the other in a nasal voice; “He grindeth slowly but exceeding small.”

「神があらゆる民に御心にかなった時期になさるように」 / もう一人が鼻にかかった声で言った / 「神はゆっくりと粉を引くが非常に細かい」

John Ferrier bowed coldly. He had guessed who his visitors were.

ジョン・フェリアーはそっけなくお辞儀をした◆彼は訪問者が誰か予想していた

“We have come,” continued Stangerson, “at the advice of our fathers to solicit the hand of your daughter for whichever of us may seem good to you and to her. As I have but four wives and Brother Drebber here has seven, it appears to me that my claim is the stronger one.”

「我々は来ました」 / スタンガーソンは続けた / 「父の助言で / あなたの娘さんに懇願するように / あなたと娘さんにとって我々のどちらがよく思えるか◆私は四人の妻をしかいませんが、ドレバーは七人です / 私には私の方が権利が強いと思いますが」

“Nay, nay, Brother Stangerson,” cried the other; “the question is not how many wives we have, but how many we can keep. My father has now given over his mills to me, and I am the richer man.”

「いや / いや / スタンガーソン兄弟」 / もう一人が叫んだ / 「問題は何人の妻を持っているかではなく / 何人養えるかだ◆私の父は製粉所を私に譲り / 私が最も金持ちだ」

“But my prospects are better,” said the other, warmly. “When the Lord removes my father, I shall have his tanning yard and his leather factory. Then I am your elder, and am higher in the Church.”

「しかし私の見込みはもっと良い」 / もう一人が言った / 興奮して◆「神が私の父を召した時 / なめし場と革工場を受け継ぐ◆それに私は年長で / 教会の地位も上だ」

“It will be for the maiden to decide,” rejoined young Drebber, smirking at his own reflection in the glass. “We will leave it all to her decision.”

「それは娘さんの決める事だ」 / ドレバーが答えた / 「ガラスに映った自分に笑いかけて◆彼女の決定に全て任せよう」

During this dialogue John Ferrier had stood fuming in the doorway, hardly able to keep his riding-whip from the backs of his two visitors.

この話の間 / ジョン・フェリアーは苛立って戸口に立っていた / この訪問者二人の背中に乗馬鞭で打ち付けるのをなんとかこらえながら

“Look here,” he said at last, striding up to them, “when my daughter summons you, you can come, but until then I don’t want to see your faces again.”

「いいか」 / 彼は遂に言った / つかつかと彼らに歩み寄って / 「私の娘が呼んだ時は / 来てよい / しかしそれまでお前らの面は二度と見たくない」

The two young Mormons stared at him in amazement. In their eyes this competition between them for the maiden’s hand was the highest of honours both to her and her father.

二人の若いモルモン教徒は驚いて彼を見つめた◆彼らの目には / 彼らが競って娘に求婚するのは / 彼女にとっても父親にとっても最高の名誉だった

“There are two ways out of the room,” cried Ferrier; “there is the door, and there is the window. Which do you care to use?”

「部屋を出るには二つの方法がある」 / フェリアーは叫んだ / 「玄関か / 窓だ◆どっちを使いたい？」

His brown face looked so savage, and his gaunt hands so threatening, that his visitors sprang to their feet and beat a hurried retreat. The old farmer followed them to the door.

彼の褐色の顔は非常に獰猛で / 彼の痩せた手は非常に威嚇的だったので / 訪問者は跳ね起きて急いで逃げ出した◆年とった農夫は彼らを戸口まで追いかけた

“Let me know when you have settled which it is to be,” he said, sardonically.

「どっちか決まったら教えろ」 / 彼は言った / せせらわらって

“You shall smart for this!” Stangerson cried, white with rage. “You have defied the Prophet and the Council of Four. You shall rue it to the end of your days.”

「後悔するぞ！」 / スタンガーソンが叫んだ / 怒りで青ざめて◆「お前は預言者と四人会議を無視した◆死ぬまで後悔するぞ」

“The hand of the Lord shall be heavy upon you,” cried young Drebber; “He will arise and smite you!”

「神の手はお前に鉄槌を下す」 / ドレバーが叫んだ / 「神は立ち上がりお前を罰するだろう」

“Then I’ll start the smiting,” exclaimed Ferrier, furiously, and would have rushed upstairs for his gun had not Lucy seized him by the arm and restrained him. Before he could escape from her, the clatter of horses’ hoofs told him that they were beyond his reach.

「それじゃ、俺が処罰を始めてやる」 / フェリアーは叫んだ / 猛り狂って / そして拳銃を取りに上階に駆け上がっていただろう / もしルーシーが腕を掴んで引き止めなければ◆彼が娘の手を振りほどく前に / 馬の蹄の音は彼らが手の届かない所に行ったことを告げていた

“The young canting rascals!” he exclaimed, wiping the perspiration from his forehead; “I would sooner see you in your grave, my girl, than the wife of either of them.”

「もったいぶった若造が！」 / 彼は叫んだ / 額の汗を拭いながら / 「娘よ、私はむしろ墓で会いたいくらいだ / あいつらどちらかの妻としてよりも」

“And so should I, father,” she answered, with spirit; “but Jefferson will soon be here.”

「私もよ、お父さん」 / 彼女は答えた / きっぱりと / 「しかしジェファーソンがすぐに来るわ」

“Yes. It will not be long before he comes. The sooner the better, for we do not know what their next move may be.”

「そうだ◆彼が来るまでにそう長くはかからん◆早い方がいい / 彼らの次の手が何か分からんでな」

It was, indeed, high time that someone capable of giving advice and help should come to the aid of the sturdy old farmer and his adopted daughter. In the whole history of the settlement there had never been such a case of rank disobedience to the authority of the Elders. If minor errors were punished so sternly, what would be the fate of this arch rebel? Ferrier knew that his wealth and position would be of no avail to him. Others as well known and as rich as himself had been spirited away before now, and their goods given over to the Church. He was a brave man, but he trembled at the vague, shadowy terrors which hung over him. Any known danger he could face with a firm lip, but this suspense was unnerving. He concealed his fears from his daughter, however, and affected to make light of the whole matter, though she, with the keen eye of love, saw plainly that he was ill at ease.

実際、誰か助言や助力の出来る者が現われても良い時期だった / 不屈の老農夫と彼の養女を救うために来て◆この入植の歴史全体で / これほどあからさまな反抗はなかった / 長老の権威に対して◆ちょっとした過ちでも非常に厳格に罰せられるのなら / この謀反の首謀者にどんな運命があるだろうか / フェリアーは彼の財産も立場も何の役にも立たないことを知っていた◆彼と同じほど豊かと知られていたほかの者が / 以前に神隠しにあっていた / そして彼らの財産は教会に引き渡された◆彼は勇敢な男だった / しかし彼は自分を包むぼんやりとしたあやふやな恐怖に震えた◆はっきりとした危険であれば覚悟を決めて立ち向かえた / しかしこの不安な状態には神経をすりへらした◆彼は自分の恐怖を娘には隠していた / しかし / そして全体がたいした事でないというふりをしていた / だが娘は / 愛情を持った鋭い目は / はっきりと父が不安な気持ちでいることを見破っていた